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Don Quixote was the nickname given to me by my priest when I was doing graffiti among other things to make the world a better place. He would tell me about my heart in the right place, but my head was out to lunch. What started off as a friendly gesture to my friends on Halloween by hooking their names up on a handball court in Bayside, Queens in 2008 ended up in me facing 4 years. I wasn't a vandal. I had no intention of destroying any property. The only reason I continued with it was because of the elusive effect it had on me and the message. I wrote a lot of things but what I was most known for was “World Peace Not Pieces” which came from a poncho my best friend gave me that he stole at freshman camp before our first year in High school. I hadn’t thought of it for years but in a manic frenzy it came out of me painting one night.  

As I continued, I made a name for myself not so much for my artistic talents but the size of the pieces I was doing, the risks and the message but it would catch up to me. One night looking for a spot to hit by the midtown tunnel during a snowstorm I decided to head home and, on the way, berated myself for being a hypocrite. My behavior and actions were not matching up and I was not practicing what I was preaching. 

When I got back to Queens, I passed by an overpass on the Clearview expressway, and it was covered with snow. I decided to go a do a piece there. I always used bright colors because I wanted everything to be positive but this night, I broke my own rules and used black and silver. When I finished the piece, I felt as if the devil was running through my veins. I went home and I was shaking on the side of my bed. The commotion woke my mother up and she said that you must stop this, and I said I would but the next night I found myself on the same highway praying saying to God I do care when in graffiti circles, I would say different. I went in my bag, grabbed a green and purple can and scaled down the highway walls. I did the outline and filled it in green put when I went for the purple can it was nowhere to be found. I scurried in the snow in the lit-up area looking for it but couldn’t find it, so I climbed back up the wall into my car. I then waited a little then just grabbed for any can in the bag and went down to finish and went home. 

I came back at dusk to take a picture, but it was too dark. After circling a few times, I was stopped at a light on Horace Harding expressway and Springfield boulevard, As I sat quietly at the light I looked to my left and a ray of light rushed towards me. I jumped in my seat out of fear and then was suspended in what I call a state of grace where I could see and feel the colors from the pieces. The positive and the negative. Then it was like someone opened my dark mind with a crowbar and from the Heavens heard a voice say DeColores! DeColores came from a once in a lifetime retreat called “The Cursillo” which means “A short course in Christ” that I went on in 2006 and that is how they greeted you. It was started in Majorca, Spain in the 1940’s by Catholic laymen. and is still used today to help people with their Faith. The experience was how William James the psychologist describes in his book “A Variety of Religious Experiences”. It was ineffable, transient and noetic. After the experience I came to my regular state and cars were honking and I sped off. When I went to take a picture, I noticed the colors were I green and red which were Christmas colors or the colors of Jesus blood and wreath. I went home shouting the “Good News!” to my mom then ran over to church and thanked my creator when on Christmas I was going to vandalize the church. 

Not too long after that seeing the error of my ways I turned myself in and confessed to a combination of 75 felonies and misdemeanors which was knocked down to 12 felonies and a few misdemeanors then the case was pushed to mental health court where I was given 3 and a half year probation and an opportunity to get the help I needed and my life together and that is what I did.  

I have gotten to do many things since then and one of them is my art. I started DQ3 Clothing around 2010 and finally got it up and running on Halloween 2023 15 years to the day I stared graffiti. I was hesitant about it because I did not want to send the wrong message if I succeeded but God let me know it was about the message.  

Today my Faith is the most important thing in my life, and I have been called to share it and that is what I am doing here! Thank you and DeColores!+++